Conference Call: Colts WR Reggie Wayne

(on what Andrew Luck seems to be doing well when the game is on the line)

I don’t know, man. That might be a question you want to ask him. The only thing I can figure is he’s tuned it, you know. He knows the situation and he’s locked in, and he’s just playing football. That might be a question you want to ask him. I’m just trying my best to be ready when my number is called. He’s the same dude you’ve been seeing all year. He’s poised in the pocket, he’s studies, nothing seems to be too big for him. He’s just sat in there and tried to win games, and that’s what’s happening. Toward the end of games, he’s locked and loaded.

(on if he’s surprised or impressed that Luck has had game-winning drives as a rookie)

No, I’m done with that, man. We’re to the point now, man, where we’ve got so many young guys that are contributing, we don’t even consider them rookies no more. Your college schedule is long gone by now if you include all the preseason games. It’s time to buckle down. Everybody’s got to be ready to go, so there’s no more rookie wall, there’s no more being a rookie, but he is doing some special things. I’m happy for him. Hopefully we can continue to thrive that way.

(on if he prepared himself for a season with “growing pains” and how have the Colts had success with so many young guys)

Just continue to be a leader, you know, stay in guys’ heads, tell them what they can look forward to seeing, tell them what they can look forward to as far as how their body will be feeling. All it is is just being leaders. Guys that have been doing this for years, we’ve got plenty of them on this team that can just relay the message and tell them what they can expect. There’s still going to be growing pains. I mean, at the end of the day, they’re still young, but one thing about this young group of guys is they’re not making the same mistakes each week, so whenever they do make a mistake, it’s going to be something they can work on and get it out of their memory bank. Guys have been doing a good job of staying focused and playing each week.

(on if it’s fair to say things have been better than expected)

I think it’s been that for everybody. That goes without saying. I felt like we could be a good team, we could compete, but part of being so young, I don’t think you could expect four, five comeback wins from behind in the fourth quarter when you’re a young team, but we’ve been doing it. It’s helped us grow. Guys are starting to get more understanding of what’s going on around us, and it’s been special so far, so we’ve just got to keep this thing going.

(on if he tries to be deceptive with his hands before the ball arrives)

That’s what it’s all about. The defensive back, or a defensive player period, they’re going to play your hands. Whenever you show your hands to them, they’re going to try to swipe your hands down. Just like when you’re running a route and you break down, that’s when they’re going to react. A DB is going to react to change, so if you can do everything you can to keep everything the same up until the last second, that’s an advantage for you. So, I’ve been around enough guys that have showed me the ropes and gave me tons of looks, so I’ve got a lot of practice at it. That is something I worry about. I like to go out there and be deceptive. I like to change things up here and there, and at the same time, just be consistent.

(on if there was a time in his career when his hands were too late)

No, it’s an instinct. We worked on that in college. That’s something that I credit my college coach, Curtis Johnson, for. He really told us, ‘You’re showing your hands too early, show them late. Catch the ball on the outside shoulder, make it hard for them to make a play on the ball.’ That’s something that I’ve been working on throughout my college days, and I started turning it over in the league. That’s just the way it goes, whenever something is broke, you fix it. If it isn’t broke, then you don’t fix it. It’s been working for me all that time.

(on if Bruce Arians is a good head coaching candidate)

To be honest with you, I’m not even thinking about that. We need to capture this moment we have, while we have it. He’s done a great job. He’s kept the team together, which is not easy. It could have been an easy excuse for us to say we lost our head coach, now everything goes south. He’s done a great job of keeping everybody in tune and understanding the schemes and the system and just continuing to work on this foundation that we started. He’s earned himself a right pitch for a head coaching job somewhere and rightfully so. Hopefully, we can advantage of him when we have him now, and whenever that time comes, it comes.

(on memories of Tom Moore in Indy)

He’s going to bring some excitement. He’s one of the best. He definitely taught me a lot. I’m sure he can get into those guys’ minds. If he can get into mine, he can get into their minds and show them the way. I just remember a guy that didn’t want the credit. He just wants the players to get all the credit. He just wants to go out there and make them better. That’s pretty special when you get a coach like that. A lot of coaches want to pat themselves on the back. With Tom Moore, he’s just not like that. He’s a guy that just wants you to go out there and teach, get you to learn, wants you to go out there and play balls to wall and make plays. You receive all the credit. That was a good job by the Titans’ organization to bring him in. I’m sure he’ll make them a better team.

(on if there was anything specific that Tom Moore taught him)

I’ve been with the man for nine, 10years. It’s so much, he’s taught me everything. He showed me my route concepts and things of that nature. He just taught me a big deal about situational football. I think that’s vital as an offensive player, especially a skill player. If they just listen to him and take a bunch of notes, they’ll learn a lot from them.

(on how close he was to not playing for Indy this season)

I don’t know, man. That was too long ago. It didn’t look good, that’s all I can say. I’m here, that’s all that matters, signed, sealed and delivered.

(on if he thought it might have been the end of him playing in Indy)

I had no choice. Free agency hadn’t started, you know what I mean? So I just weighed my options. I just felt like this was the place for me, whether I left money on the table or not. This was the place for me, I made a decision to come back. Regardless of if this season was a bad season or a good season, I was going to stick with it and have no regrets. I’m happy with the decision I made.

(on if he thinks some people wrote him off before this season)

Hey man, shame on those people. Only thing I can say is I know what I’m capable of doing. Ask the players, let them tell it. You know what I’m saying? I’ve been doing this a long time. My resume speaks for itself. I’ve got enough film on tape to show you what I can do. Now if everybody wants to fall into the system as far as he’s getting older, he’s this, he’s that, then that’s cool. Check my pack, watch what I’ve done. That was motivation for me. That was motivation for me to come back and work harder in the offseason than I already have. Have a good season, and on top of that, go on a young team and help lead them to a winning team. Now everybody wants to jump on the bandwagon. That’s alright, I still have doors open. I got the doors and they can jump on. I don’t have too much room left.

(on if he worked harder this offseason than he has in the past)

I work hard every offseason. Every one, 5:30 in the morning, probably when you’re still snoring and rolling over in your bed, I’m working out. To me, I think that’s the key to success. I feel like I’m the first one, I’m out there getting it while everyone else is at home sleeping. You know what I mean? The early bird gets the biggest worm, right? My offseason regiment has never changed, it will always be the same. Even this summer, it was the same. Only thing different was, instead of working out at 5:30, I worked out at 5 a.m., so I worked out 30 minutes earlier. That’s just how it is. The name of the game is longevity. I know to get longevity, you need to be in shape, you need to healthy, you need to get in that weight room and do what you need to do. You can’t have those nicks and bruises that keep you down. That’s what takes you out of the game. A lot of times, when you’re not working out the way you should, that’s when those injuries come up. I credit a lot of that to Andreu Swasey, my strength coach in Miami. He gets me ready and the rest is up to me once I report to camp.

(on what he thinks it will be like if Chuck Pagano comes back for the regular season finale)

I think it will be fine. He’s done it before. It’s nothing new to him, it’s not his first rodeo. I think he’ll be fine, just once he gets up in there. It’ll be just like clockwork.

(on how much of a boost that would be to have Chuck Pagano make it back)

Everything will be alright. Just play football, that’s what it all boils down to. Everything else will take care of itself, and that goes for everybody. Just play football, be smart, don’t shoot yourself in the foot. Everything will work itself out, just play.

(on if he thinks that the era of the diva wide receiver in the NFL has come to an end)

I don’t know. I would assume so. Those guys you named, they are hardworking guys. They aren’t into all that diva stuff. I got kind of upset a couple of years ago, somebody put me into that category. I don’t even know what it means. As a professional football player at the receiver position, you know how much running and how much hard work it is that you have to dedicate yourself to, to be successful. Whenever you say those names that you did, I respect all of those guys. I respect everybody in this league, period. As far as the diva stuff, man, I hope it is gone. I hope you get more guys out there that like to work hard and go out there and enjoy playing football.

(on if he’ll play until he’s 40)

I don’t know, man. They’re going to have to put me out. As long as my body feels the way it does, I’m going to play. But as soon as I start feeling a little weary, I’m going to go and hang the cleats up. I don’t know when it is, taking it year-by-year, and go from there. I feel good, I really do. I’m enjoying the game still, and I’m excited about the team that I’m on. The sky is the limit for us, and hopefully we can just keep the wheels working.